cognitive development

cognitive development

ways that growth and change in intellectual capabilities influence a person’s behavior

-learning, memory, problem solving skills, and intelligence across the lifespan

cognitive view

how a child acquires and processes info

stimulating envt affects learning

Piaget’s theory

people pass in a fixed sequence through a series of universal stages of cognitive development

sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operations, formal operations

at each stage

quantity of info increases; quality of knowledge and understanding increases

vygotskys sociocultural theory

developments proceeds as a result of social interactions between members of a culture

cognitive neuroscience approach

actual locations in brain related to different cognitive activity

sensorimotor

birth-(18mon-2 yrs); knwoing by sensing and acting

preoperational

2-7 years; concept formation, symbolic thinking/reasoning; less dependence on sensorimotor activity for understanding the world

concrete operation

7-11, logical operations on concrete objects and events

formal operations

12+; abstracts, analogies, metaphors, hypothetical reasoning

0-1 mon

reacts to something that happens

quiets when picked up

responds to voice

consoles self by sucking

2-3 mon

searches with eyes for sound

shows active interest in person

inspects and plays with own hands

4-5 mon

looks for hidden voice

plays for 2-3 min with one toy(attention is developing)

finds partially hidden object

works to obtain object out of reach

6-7 mon

looks for family members when named

shakes toys to hear sound

plays peek-a-boo and with paper

imitates simple gestures

8-9 mon

responds to simple verbal requests(come here)

throws and drops objects

9-12 mon

looks at pics when named

enjoys looking at pics in books

stacks and unstacks rings

guides action toy manually

13-18 mon

understands and follows simple commands

include others as recipients of play behaviors

points to three body parts

19-24 mon

demonstrates invention of new means through mental combinations(child will discover new ways to play with toys through trial and error)

finds hidden objects through invisible displacement

shows deferred imitation

activates toy or doll in pretend play

24-36 mon

shows ability to substitute objects in pretend play

matches objects

responds to 2-3 commands

sings songs

Symbolic function

ability to use symbols, words, or an object to represent something that is not physically present

directly related to language function

language and thought relationship

piaget: they’re interdependent(lang advances = advances in thinking)c

centration

process of concentrating on one limited aspect of a stimulus and ignoring other aspects

preoperational thought

limitation: leads to inaccuracy and perception of thought

looks longer so it has more numbers

Conservation

quantity is unrelated to arrangement and physical appearance of objects

NOT for preschoolers

numbers, substance, length, area, weight, volume

Transformation

process in which one state is changed into another

preschoolers can’t understand bc they ignore intermediate steps

egocentrism

inability to take the perspective of others

-lack of awareness that others see things from different physical perspectives(if i can’t see you you can’t see me)

-failure to realize that others may hold thoughts, feelings, and points of view different from one’s own

preoperational period

intuitive thought

use of primitive reasoning and avid acquisition about world(curiosity)

4-7 years

functionality

concept that actions, events, and outcomes are related to one another in fixed patterns

begins in preoperational stage

identity

concept that certain things stay the same regardless of changes in shape, size and appearance

preoperational

3-3.5

tells simple story

knows conventional counting up to 5

tells action in pictures

puts together puzzle

follows 3-step unrelated command

3.5-4 years

cannot easily distinguish reality from fantasy

can count 5 objects

4-4.5 yrs

makes row of objects equal to another row by matching

gives age

makes opposite analogies

matches and names 4 colors

4.5-5 years

knows conventional counting up to 15

better able to distinguish reality from fantasy

5-6

appreciate past, present, and future

creates classes of objects based on single defining attribute(color, shape, etc.)

counts to 20

concrete operational

7-12 years

active and appropriate use of logic

can solve conservation problems(logic over appearance)

conservation of number/mass

can understand relationship between time and speed

NO understanding of abstract/hypothetical/logic

Decentering

ability to take multiple aspects of a situation into account

piagets’ tower problem(blocks change from arrays to towers etc)

piaget’s matchstick problem(counting matchsticks nstead of length)

cognition milestones school age

learns to read

learns basic math skills: addition, subtraction

learns concept of conservation: mass&length(7yrs); area(8); weight(9); volume(11)

learns to write

enjoys table games

increased attention span

intellectually curious

reads greater variety of materials including nonfiction

formal operations

ppl develop ability to think abstractly and hypothetically

12+

formal operational skills

not everyone achieves it

social values/culture influence achievement of these skillsc

consequences of using formal operations’

use abstract reasoning to question authoritative figures

become more argumentative(poke holes in arguments etc.)

13 yrs

may demonstrate formal operational thinking

14 yrs

continues to gain metacognitive abilities and improve study skills

15 yrs

can think in terms of abstract principles

may demonstrate dogmatism-skepticism

16 yrs

can argue either side in a debate

shows growing interest in social and philosophical problems